Bottle holder and font for holy water



Jan. 9', 1951 R. F. BRENNAN BOTTLE HOLDER AND FONT FOR HOLY WATER Filed July 24, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 :62 den For: Paym naFBrennafl fi'orn e575.

Jan. 9, 1951 R BRENNAN 2,537,875

BOTTLE HOLDER AND FONT FOR HOLY WATER Filed July 24, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a 20 20 f3 a, %W

22 K i 2e 7 25 F 2\ 4 7 27 2-43 I m i 2 Raym ondmrmnm Patented Jan. 9, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Raymond F. Brennan, Attleboro, Mass.

Application July 24, 1947, Serial No. 763,386

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to religious devices and more particularly to a font for holy'water adapted to be suspended on the wall for use in homes, convents, schools and seminaries. One object of the invention is to provide a font of the type indicated having means for holding a bottle containing the liquid and delivering it to a basin in measured quantities,

Another object is to provide a device of the type indicated in which the bottle or similar receptacle may be readily placed in position to feed the water to the basin while being concealed from View yet convenient of access for refilling.

Another object is to provide a device of the type indicated. of novelconstruction and ornamental appearance capable of being produced from plastics molded in simple form or constructed from other materials and assembled without the use of any extraneous fastening means.

Another object is to provide a device of the type indicated which is of light weight, compact construction and adapted for economical manufacture to reduce its cost to the user.

Further objects of the invention are set forth in the following specification which describes one preferred form of construction of the device, by way of example, as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the device or font shown with the cover for its bottle-containing compartment closed;

Fig. 2 is an enclosed front View of the device part-sectional through the basin at its lower end;

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the device taken in a median plane and showing a bottle held in position in its compartment;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view through the device taken in a median plane extending from front to rear;

Fig. 5 is a rear view of the device;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the same; and

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional plan view of the device on line 1-1 of Fig. 5.

The usual ecclesiastical or religious font consists in a basin mounted on a column or pedestal and generally constructed of stone or ceramics. Such fonts are expensive and not adapted for use in homes, convents, schools or even in small seminaries and it is an object of the pres ent invention to provide a font of light-weight, compact construction which may be suspended on the wall in a residence or ecclesiastical establishment while being conveniently accessible for use. The present invention contemplates such a form of device that is of ornamental appearance and designed to contain a bottle or other vessel for holding the holy water and feeding it to a basin in measured quantities so that refilling is required only at long intervals. In its present preferred form, the device comprises an upright panelled lcasing forming a compartment 2 for a bottle B or the like with a removable cover 3 at the top and a relatively shallow basin 4 at the bottom for receiving the liquid which is maintained at a constant level as fed from the bottle. Means are provided within the bottom of the compartment 2 at the rear of the basin 4 for sustaining the bottle B in inverted position, see Fig. 3, with its mouth or orifice at a predetermined height relative to the basin to regulate the level of the liquid L therein as shown in Fig. 2.

The present font is preferably constructed from lastics by molding operations for forming its two principal parts or sections that are assembled in substantially integral relationship to receive the removable cover 3 at the top, To this end the compartment 2 is molded with its main part constituted by a rear wall 5 extending downwardly and formed integral with a hollow tapering receptacle 6 at the bottom merging into the forward basin 4% that is separated therefrom by a partition I. The rear wall 5 has forwardlyprojecting flanges 8 at its sides, represented by dotted lines in Fig. i and also shown in section in Fig. 7, that form guides for the side walls 9 of the forepart it of the compartment 2. The enclosure or compartment 2 comprises the rear wall 5 and a hollow box-like forward section Ill having a front panel I I formed in one piece with the side walls 9. The bottom receptacle 6 of l the compartment 2 is provided with a pair of vertical walls i2 extending forwardly in spaced angular relationship from the rear wall 5 to the front wall or partition 1. The basin 4 has a thickened rim I4 extending throughout the main portion of its circumference with narrower flanges l5 projecting rearwardly therefrom along the sides of the receptacle 6 to adapt them to overlap the side walls 9 of the front section In of the compartment 2 and form a joinder therewith. Through this form of construction the front section Ill of the compartment 2 may be seated on the bottom receptacle 6 of the device with its side walls 9 held within the flanges 15 and extending rearwardly to seat in grooves 16 between said flanges and the previously-mentioned flanges 8. The two sections of the compartment 2 may be cemented together at the points of joinder to provide a substantially integral structure.

The cover 3 may be molded with a crowned top 20, ribbed at the top and rear for the sake of reinforcement and to ornament it, and having relatively thin recessed flanges 2i at the front and sides adapted to fit within the vertical walls of the compartment 2 in connection therewith. As shown in Fig. 5, the rearward ends of the flanges H are received in slots 22 between the ends of the rear wall and the side walls 9 of the forward section ill, whereby to more securely maintain the cover 3 in place on the compartment.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the rear wall 5 of the main compartment member inclined forwardly toward the bottom where it joins the bottom of the receptacle 6 with ribs 2-3 and 2% extending transversely of said rear wall for the purpose of reinforcement. The upper portion of the rear wall ii is recessed on the front at :25 and thickened at the rear in a depending strip or projection 25 adapted to rest against the wall on which the device is suspended. For this lat ter purpose a buttonhole-shaped opening 2? is provided at the lower end of the thickened portion 23 of the rear wall 5 to permit the head of a nail to be inserted through its larger part and received in its narrower portion at the top for suspending the device on the wall.

The two transverse walls E2 in the bottom of the compartment 2 extend forwardly from the rear wall in angular relationship to form a channel or sluice with their forward ends merging into the front wall or partition '5 which has an opening 36 for feeding the water into the basin 3. The opening 3c is formed with vertical side edges and a triangular or V-shaped bottom portion as shown most clearly in Fig. 2. Between the two transverse walls 52 is a central upright or vertical wall 3! of thicker cross-section having tapering sides and adapted to serve as a rest for the mouth of the bottle to hold it in position to feed its contents down into the bottom of the receptacle '5 to cause it to flow out through the opening 30 into the basin The height of this vertical wall or support 3! is such as to locate the mouth of the bottle somewhat below the rim of the basin 2, whereof it will maintain a constant level of the liquid L in alinemcnt with the end of the mouth of the bottle as shown in Fig. 2.

lhe basin l is preferably fluted below its rim for ornamentation and the front panel Ill of the compartment 2 may be ornamented in relief with a crucifix and scrolls, flowers or the like for further embellishment of the complete font.

Having now described the construction and arrangement of the parts of the present device, its method of use is explained as follows:

The bottle B is filled with water, which may be blessed by the priest, and. then placed in the compartment 2 of the font in the manner as next explained. The cap C is removed from the bottle B and while the latter is held in substantially upright position the compartment 2 is inverted and slid over the bottle until the mouth of the latter abuts the top of the rest 3| in the bottom of he receptacle 8; it being understood that the cover 3 is first removed from the compartment 2. Prior to this operation the cap C of the bottle may be placed in the bottom of the compartment resting on one of its transverse walls l2, as shown in Figs. 3 and i, so that when the bottle is inserted the cap will be retained therein to prevent its loss. After the'bottle has been placed in the compartment 2 the cover 3 is replaced, the device returned to upright position and suspended on the wall by means of a nail or screw projecting through the button-hole opening 2'! as indicated by dash-lines in Fig. 4.

In this position of the device the liquid L will feed from the bottle B into the receptacle 6 to raise it to a level corresponding to the end of the bottles mouth, as shown in Fig. 2, and flowing through the opening into the basin 4 will maintain the level therein constant. As long as there is any liquid in the bottle B it will be maintained at a constant level in the basin 4 for ritualistic use; it being understood that the flow of the liquid from the bottle does not fill the whole of the bottom of the receptacle 6 but only its channeled ortion between the walls l2 which form a sluice for feeding it through the opening 3 in the partition 1. Due to this arrangement of the walls !2 in the receptacle 6 very little of the liquid is wasted in the form of a residue when the bottle is emptied.

When the liquid is substantially exhausted fromthe bottle B the latter may be removed for refilling by simply lifting off the cover 3. After the liquid has been replenished the bottle B may be replaced in the compartment 2 of the device in the manner previously explained and the font is ready for use again by suspending it on the wall.

It will be observed from the foregoing specification that the present invention provides a most convenient device for containing liouid' and feeding it to a font in measured quantities to keep the latter supplied at a constant level. By molding the pats of the device from plastics it may be constructed very economically to provide a light-weight, compact structure adapted for general use in homes and other locations. By constructing the device in two main parts fitted together with a tongue-and-groove arrangement and simply cemented in place, a practically integral structure is produced without the use of extraneous fastening means such as screws, bolts or the like. At the time the whole device is highly ornamental in shape and configuration, thus constituting a very attractive article for sale at a moderate price.

While the device is'herein shown as embodied in a preferred form of construction, it is to be understood that various modifications may be made in the design and arrangement of its parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, without limiting myself in this respect, I claim:

1. A. religious font of the type indicated comprising a box-like housing constructed entirely from plastic molded in two sections, one section having a rearward vertical wall surrncunting a receptacle at the bottom formed integral therewith with a substantially oval shell-like basin projecting forwardly therefrom, a front compartment section constituted a vertical panel and side walls seated on the receptacle at the bottom of the first-named. section with theside walls attached to the edges of its vertical wall. a forwardly extending wall in the receptacle of the first-mentioned section molded integral with the bottom and rear walls thereof and of a height to adapt it to support the mouth of an inverted bottle for discharging its contents into the receptacle, and a removable cover fitted to close against the top of the compartment.

2. A religious font comprising two molded interfitting sections consisting in a main section 5 constituted by a rearward vertical wall formed integral with a receptacle at the bottom, said receptacle formed with an elliptical basin projecting forwardly therefrom, a relatively short forwardly-extending wall rising from the bottom of the receptacle and molded integral therewith and with the rearward wall, spaced partition walls projecting forwardly in angular relationship from the rearward wall in the receptacle and integral with a transverse front wall extending between the sides of the receptacle, said front wall of the receptacle having a restricted orifice opening into the basin at the front thereof, an enclosure for a bottle when seated on the rest formed by the short wall in the receptacle, said enclosure having a front panel and side walls seated on the receptacle with the edges of said REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,244,585 Case Oct. 30, 1917 1,450,148 Erkenswick Mar. 27, 1923 1,933,517 Tucker Oct. 31, 1933 2,017,990 Roy Oct. 22, 1935 2.078.203 Manning Apr. 20, 1937 

